New women’s hostel attracts students’ ire: Hindu College hostel rules dictate how to dress, allow random checks
The rules set by authorities for the new women’s hostel at Hindu College have come under fire, with students terming them “regressive and ridiculous”.
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Authorities have defended the hostel rules. Express archive photo
The rules set by authorities for the new women’s hostel at Hindu College have come under fire, with students terming them “regressive and ridiculous”.
The rules listed in the hostel prospectus ask students to dress as per “normal norms of the society”, warn that no visitors will be allowed without prior permission “including girl students”, allow only one night-out in a month and also have a provision for random checks by the warden at any time.
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While students said the rules were “regressive and discriminatory’, college authorities said they were justified and had been made keeping in mind the amount of “money spent to set up the new facility and the kind of conduct required to maintain it well”.
“Women hostels in Delhi University’s colleges do have discriminatory rules, but Hindu College has really taken it far. A student can only get one night out, while others usually give six. Similarly, other colleges allow six late nights, but this one has ridiculous rules. Why should a student pay more money just to be caged more,” asked Shambhavi, an MA student.
Devangana Kalita, a member of Pinjra Tod, a collective that works for women students, said, “We were appalled at how regressive and discriminatory the new hostel is going to be”.
Students have also criticised the fee structure of the women’s hostel, saying it was “exorbitant”. While students living in the men’s hostel have to pay an annual fee of Rs 47,000, the fee of the women’s hostel is Rs 82,000.
However, Dr Anju Srivastava, officiating principal of Hindu College, said, “The fee has been decided keeping in mind that this is an air-conditioned, state-of-the-art hostel with great facilities”. She also defended the dos and don’ts in the hostel prospectus, saying, “Rules have to be made to bind things together. A lot of money has gone into setting up this hostel and it is going to be one-of-a-kind. The management considered it necessary to make strict rules”.
Some of the other rules include requiring a prior letter of request from the local guardian in case a student wants to take leave, mandatory presence of all residents in the hostel by 8.30 pm and prohibiting residents from roaming inside the hostel after 11 pm. The prospectus has also cautioned that a dress code may be notified for residents, if deemed necessary.
It added, “Only visitors who have been approved by parents and whose names and addresses are registered with the hostel office at the time of admission will be allowed to meet the resident”.
Swati, another Hindu College student, said, “So a male hostel resident can go out and do whatever he likes… but a woman hostel resident will have to be back by 8.30 pm everyday, duly mark her attendance in a register and also dress a certain way. Is this fair.”
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